3D2Y can't change a thing
by LittleMissAfflicted
Summary: Based on chapter 598. Nami becomes apprehensive when she wonders just how different her crew might be. But be it 3 days or 2 years, some things just don't change. And that's okay. Luffy/Nami fluff. T for language.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Oda-sensei does, and maaan, do i love what he's done to it 3

**Warning: **This is based on Chapter 597, so if you haven't read it yet, please, go do it now. What in the heck are you waiting for?

**AN:** I wrote this for my best friend so she'd cheer up. Not what she originally wanted, but, come on. Luffy/Nami fluff can make anyone smile =)

* * *

Two years had been a long time.

Twenty four months. Ninety six weeks. Seven hundred and thirty days.

All of that time, _without him_.

Two years had been enough.

* * *

In two years, Nami had changed drastically.

Her soft gingery hair had grown like mad, becoming long and wavy tendrils that flowed over the majority of her back. Her body had grown too, and although it was unexpected, her larger bust made her thin, curvaceous waist all the more appealing to look at.

If the crew had thought her to be an extraordinary navigator before, she couldn't wait to see the gold pedestal they'd be placing her onto now. All that time she'd spent on that sky island hadn't gone to waste. Her ability to predict the weather had become even keener, and her ability to use it offensively, even deadlier.

But Nami had also remained the same.

She was still a money-loving, two-timing pirate who could get away with stealing both a man's money, and his heart.  
She still got a greedy gleam in her eyes at the thought of the priceless treasures and jewels that adorned her most immature, but coveted fantasies.  
She still loved tangerines, and drawing maps, and wearing tantalizing outfits, and most of all…

Nami still loved her crew. More than anything. Missed them all, more than she had ever thought she would.

So as Nami sat by herself in a little hole-in-the-wall bar in Sabaody, she found herself holding back a giddy feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't the booze, she was sure. She could drink any man under the table and _still_ keep at it without any trouble at all. She fought the butterflies in her stomach silently, tipping her drink against her lips as she listened to the gossip that was being hissed behind her.

She hadn't heard much, before some large and misshapen _thing _that looked something like a man had become brave enough to ask her to drink with him.

Right. And then maybe she'd take her top off and run around town half-naked. Which, unless everyone in town had half a million berries to donate towards the cause, was not about to happen.

"I have no interest in you," she said in a serious tone, setting her drink onto the counter, "so I'm not going to drink with you."

"Did you hear that?"

"The girl's crazy!"

"He's _Strawhat Luffy_! She's as good as dead!"

The chorus of exclamations erupted around the bar, the last statement catching her attention. This guy? Luffy? If this guy was Luffy, then she was Princess of Alabasta, and Nami was pretty damned sure that she wasn't Vivi.

All of the sudden the imposter was ready to attack, when he was swept away by…

A giant carnivorous plant?

A figure sat beside her at the counter. Another guy. He looked pretty strong, with tan skin, muscular arms, and quite a bit of curly black hair.

"How about a drink with me then, Miss?," he said in a voice that sounded a little husky, but so very familiar. When he lifted his face to tip his hat at her, Nami felt the butterflies in her stomach pop, and she screamed when she realized who she was looking at.

"USOPP!" she cried at the top of her lungs, carried away in her excitement, "look at you! You got a little manlier!" She had wrapped him up in a too-tight hug, burying her long-gone crewmate in between her abundant bosom.

"Y-You've gone up to a whole new level yourself there, Nami," Usopp chuckled, his reddened cheeks going unnoticed by her. "And yeah," he said with a confident grin, "I've graduated from being in our weak little trio!"

Nami realized that they should probably leave the bar, since a brawl was sure to follow Usopp's man-eating plant attack. She grabbed her bags off of the floor and ran out of the building with Usopp alongside her, stopping for a few seconds to summon a bolt of lightning to electrify the entire place. She hadn't even paid for her drink.

Once they were safely away from the bar, Nami and Usopp stopped to catch their breaths, and began laughing. They were still pirates, all right. Couldn't pay for booze? Kick some ass, take what you want, and head for the high hills. The laws of piracy were simple, as there was really only one: The only laws that _did _exist were the ones that you didn't have enough power to surpass.

"So" Nami said as she straightened herself out and picked up her bags again, "have you seen any of the others yet?"

"Nope," Usopp shook his head, "but I can't wait! I wonder how much everyone else has changed! I mean, can you even imagine? If we got stronger, think how much scarier Sanji got, or Zoro, or, oh man, what about Luffy?"

As each name was said, pictures of their faces quickly surfaced to Nami's mind. But, no, that wasn't right. Those faces were the ones she remembered from two years before. She realized that she no longer had any idea _what_ the rest of her crew looked like, and she found the idea a little bit irksome.

_What if he__ wasn't the same_?

"I never thought about that" Nami said wistfully. "Are you gonna head back to the ship to find out?" Usopp's voice failed to hide how very eager he was. Who could blame him? In a few hours they'd all be together again. Home. Just like before. Except…

It wouldn't be _just_ like before, Nami mused. If she'd changed, even just that little bit, then…

"Earth to Nami" Usopp waved his hands in front of her, "come in, Nami. Helloooo!"

"A-Ah! Sorry Usopp! I guess I was just thinking a little too hard there," she apologized with chaste laugh. "But if you don't mind, I really want to finish my shopping. You know how it is. Once we set out to sea, we never know when we're going to come across another island, so I'm setting out prepared."

Usopp chuckled, "Good point. So, I'll see you on the Sunny, then?"

"Of course!"

She watched Usopp turn and run back in the opposite direction, towards where their ship had, for all that time, faithfully awaited their return.

Nami walked on, glancing into shop windows, admiring an outfit or accessory here and there, but her zeal had been extinguished. The butterflies in her stomach had popped, and now, it felt like a brick had taken their place. Was it wrong of her to worry so much? Stupid, maybe? It just bothered her! She couldn't help it! What if Sanji came back and had a _girlfriend_? Or Brooke came back with _skin_? If Chopper came back and wasn't _cute_ anymore? What if-?

"So I pick now to start losing my mind," Nami murmured to herself as she walked along, "that's ridiculous. Half of that stuff isn't even possible! It'll be fine. We'll all meet up, and it'll be the same as always…"

There was a bright red vest, the silver buttons that ran down its side shining through the shop window. A red vest…

All that was missing was a worn straw hat, a goofy grin, and a severe lack of common sense.

Luffy.

What if he wasn't the same anymore? Sure, he was a complete idiot, and gave her headaches, and ate everything in sight, and acted like a giant five year old, but…

That was just how she liked him. She liked the Luffy that ran all around the deck screaming "ISLAND!" at the top of his lungs, every time they came across new land. Liked the Luffy that broke his teeth trying to eat something that anyone else could have told him was inedible. The Luffy that drew ridiculous things all over his face to cheer her up when she was ill. The one that would always come after her. Who would put that straw hat, that he cared for with all his heart, on top of her head right before a fight.

Would that Luffy, her captain, be the one waiting for her on board the Sunny?

"OW!"

"AH!"

Nami shook her head, realizing she'd landed on the ground with her bags strewn around her. She'd bumped into someone."Sorry lady!" the person standing above her said rather loudly, "but I'm looking for someone! My friends said she was out shoppin' and she's the only one missing, so, I have to find her!"

He was holding his hand out to her, and as Nami's eyes raked over him, she felt the brick that had settled inside her belly crumble.

Red vest. The sleeves were longer, sure, but it was the same red, with the same simple, golden buttons. Blue pants. Basic sandals. That straw hat that never left his side back on top of his head of messy jet-black hair. And that stupid, toothy grin still permanently etched onto his face. He was still…

"_Luffy_."

"Huh?" he picked her up off the ground, and his hands felt warm and strong, yet worked and calloused, " How do y'know my name, lady? Are you a pirate too? I sure hope you're not a bounty hunter, cause that sure would suck…"

And before she could even think about it, her fist was wound back, and then coming forward to smash right into the rubbery skin of Luffy's face.

"I'm NAMI, you _STUPID IDIOT_!"

She was growling furiously as she picked up her purchases and left him on the ground, face sizzling where she'd slugged him with all her might.

The nerve of him! Even Usopp had recognized her right away! And here she'd been worried about him changing! Hell, if anything, he was even slower than before, that little-!

"Naaaamii! Wait up!" Luffy was calling out to her, and was by her side in seconds. He was leaning down a little, looking at her face, and then he burst into that snickering laugh of his. "Wow! It really is you! You look cool, Nami!"

Most men would have said that she looked beautiful. Sexy. Marvelous. Gorgeous. Tempting. The list could go on and on.

Of course a fool like Luffy would call her bodily changes _cool_.

"Nami…? What's wrong?"

"What's _wrong_?," Nami stopped in her tracks, her fingers coiling into angry fists around the handles of her bags, "I don't see you for two years, Luffy, _two years_! And then you come right up to me and don't even know who I am? As if I've changed that much! As if you didn't remember-!"

By then, tears of frustration were betraying Nami, stinging the very ends of her chocolate brown eyes. But she was stopped mid-rant, watching as Luffy took the straw hat off of his head, and settled it right onto hers.

He was scratching the back of his head, still smiling, his dark eyes looking straight into hers as he said it:

"Missed you, Nami."

And then Nami was sure.

Two years without Luffy had been more than enough.

* * *

The End! This was going to turn into some Pirate lovin', but I don't think I'll do that unless the person whom I wrote this for asks me to do so ^_^;


End file.
